Butterfly, Fly Away
by laurzz
Summary: DannyLindsayLucy. One-shot, future fic. "So, just live, make memories. But never second guess who you are, where you have been and most importantly, where it is you're going. If you take away anything from this moment, make sure that wherever you go in life, you go with all your heart."


**A/N: Hi guys... so, new oneshot for you all. With my own Graduation tomorrow, Fred and I felt somewhat drawn to write something. I will regret this in three hours when I'm fixing on getting up to get there for 8am, but whatever - that's beyond the point. YOLO and all that, right? This one means a lot to me so I really hope you guys enjoy it. **

**Also, there are some guest stars from another show that I hold dear to my heart. Imaginary brownies to those who guess who the characters are. ;) **

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Watching his daughter collect her cap and gown from the severely overpriced rental company, Danny sighed as it struck him in the chest that his baby girl was officially all grown up. She'd graduated High School a few years ago now and while that was a huge achievement, he knew that his tears would have to be saved for her College Graduation. As it was, he and Lindsay had always held high hopes for their intelligent daughter and they had guided her on a path leading towards a college degree. They had somehow managed nurture her into the beautiful butterfly that she had become, and with a little nudging she'd managed to fly with her wings.

Four long years had passed since he had dropped her off in her dorm room and although four years had felt like a lifetime, he could remember it as if it was yesterday. He could still feel his chest constricting as he hugged her goodbye. The thought of leaving her in a new place without himself or Lindsay to protect her scared him to no end. It also didn't settle his nerves that she was all the way in North Carolina; not exactly a quick trip if she needed him.

He remembered vividly going to the local Walmart and picking her up a variation of her favourite foods and non-alcoholic beverages (much to her dismay!) while she settled into her room and met her new friends. She'd told them something about a hall meeting and an orientation blah blah. It was Lindsay who had picked up on the hint and made them leave their little girl in the hands of the college and her new found friends.

As Danny nursed the champagne he'd been handed when they had registered her in for the Graduation ceremony, he could see some of Lucy's fellow graduands and friends. Some of which had spent time with them in New York during vacations and holidays; other's he'd seen pictures of through Lucy's social networking site. Mytwit or Tweetbook or whatever it was called. One of the conditions of her coming so far away was that she let Danny be friends with her on her Twitbook so that he knew she was safe. Much to Lucy's dismay, she'd agreed… and although she would never admit it, Danny knew that Lucy liked the fact that he had an insight into her life. As much as it pained him, he had drawn himself a mental line and didn't butt in on her conversations. In fact, he commented and made his presence known very rarely. It was just the security of making sure that he knew she was okay that he wanted.

He watched with amusement as his wife and daughter attempted to pin her gown to her dress. Tips of how to wear the gown had apparently reached Lucy and she'd told Lindsay to bring loads of safety pins to fix the gown to the dress Lucy had bought herself; something about the gown not sitting right? Danny wasn't too sure of the whole appearance thing; all he knew was that both his wife and daughter were breathtakingly beautiful.

"Mr. Messer?"

Danny turned and glanced towards the man standing near him, also with a full glass of champagne.

"That'd be me…"

"Nathan Scott," The man opposite him offered Danny his free hand.

"Nathan," Danny exclaimed, the man's name ringing bells. "You're Lydia's dad."

"And you're Lucy's," Nathan smiled. "I just wanted to come over and say a quick congratulations and thank you; Lydia still talks her trip to New York. You guys really spoiled her."

"Well when you take into consideration all that you've done for Lucy it's the least we could have done. You guys gave her a home away from home. I should be thanking you guys."

"I'm sure your wife and yourself would have done the same if the tables were turned." Nathan paused. "However, I'm pretty sure we couldn't have given Lucy quite the same experience as you gave Lydia."

Danny shrugged off the compliments. "Is your wife and Lydia fussing with the damn gown too?"

"Oh you bet," Nathan smirked. "Something about safety pins?"

"Oh yeah," Danny nodded as he took a sip of the bitter champagne. "How much easier it would have been if they were both boys."

"Oh I've got one," Nathan smiled. "Except he's not exactly a boy anymore… he's been taller than me since his senior year of High School."

"Wow," Danny implored. "You don't look old enough to have had a son too."

"My wife and I had him…. Young. He was a surprise to say but the least."

"So was Lucy," Danny smiled fondly at his daughter. "But the best surprises come in small packages."

Nathan smiled in agreement as they both stared off in the direction of their respective families. Finally, Lucy and Lindsay seemed to be finished with their fussing and were beginning to make their way over to Danny.

"Mr. Scott" Lucy called in excitement as she ran over to hug her adoptive father from the past four years. "I see that you've finally met my Dad."

"I sure have," he smiled as he squeezed her tight. "You look beautiful; have you seen Lydia yet? She's been looking all over for you."

"I haven't; I haven't seen Haley yet either."

"Haley?" Danny interrupted.

"Lydia's mom." Lucy explained. "Listen, can I – I'll be right back?"

"Go wherever you need to," Lindsay smiled as she tucked herself into Danny's side and stole his glass of champagne. "We'll be here, just make sure you come back and get us when you need us."

"You can come with us if you want," Nathan turned back to face the couple. "I'm sure Hales would love to meet you both."

"We'll catch up," Danny smiled. "It was great to meet you, Nathan." He offered him a solid handshake. "Thanks for everything."

Nathan nodded before turning and placing a hand on Lucy's back as he led his daughter's best friend to his waiting daughter.

"Was that Lydia's dad?" Lindsay inquired.

"Yeah, he looks really familiar," Danny pursed his lips. "I just can't place where I know him from."

"He's young," Lindsay stated.

"They had kids young," he explained.

"How long were Lucy and I over there for?" she teased. "You get his life story too?"

"Ha-ha," Danny smirked as Lindsay finished off his champagne. "Linds, you realise it's two o'clock in the afternoon and you've had three glasses of champagne."

"I do realise that, Danny," she snarked. "But I'm trying to take the edge off the fact that my baby girl is all grown up. It's giving me a little bit of liquid courage to get through the rest of today, okay?"

"I'm sorry I asked," he smirked as he pulled Lindsay over to a small wall that they both perched themselves on as the watched the busy crowd of Seniors transforming themselves into Graduates.

"It's crazy," Lindsay whispered as she took Danny's hand and squeezed it tight. "She's so grown up."

"It's scary," Danny agreed. "When I look at her, I still see our three year old in stripy tights and pink converse."

"Tell me about it," Lindsay whispered. "I still remember her first day."

"I was just thinking about that," Danny mused. "How we went to Walmart to get her all her favourite stuff."

"Yeah," Lindsay smiled. "And the last minute homely touches."

"We spent something like four hundred dollars didn't we?"

"I wanted to set her up for a while," Lindsay argued with a tint of playfulness in her voice. "Lord knew she wasn't going food shopping for herself."

"But see, look at that, four years later and somehow she hasn't wasted away." He mused playfully. "

"Don't remind me, I like to think that she still relies on us to survive from day-to-day. I dislike the fact that she can survive by herself."

"But that's a good thing, sweetheart."

"Yeah," Lindsay sighed, "But it also reminds me that my work here is done."

"Um, you do realise we have two other darling children at home, right? Your work is far from done baby."

"Yes, I remember my darling children," Lindsay scoffed playfully at her husband, "I just meant that my work here with Lucy is done. She doesn't need her Mom to tell her what to do anymore."

"Maybe not," Danny shrugged, "But there's nothing saying she won't ask you for advice. You'll always be her Mom, Linds. Always."

Lindsay sighed heavily and laid her head on Danny's shoulder. "I cried all the way home when we dropped her off, didn't I?"

"You did," he smiled at the memory. "It's a good job we had driven; otherwise we would have had some right old looks on the flight. Me crying, you crying… it wasn't a pretty sight."

"You didn't cry for that long," Lindsay argued.

"In front of you I didn't," Danny snorted. "When you fell asleep I cried for an hour and a half. At one point I pulled over because I couldn't see. My contacts had messed up from the tears."

"I didn't know that." Lindsay smiled softly.

"Well I wasn't exactly going to tell you, was I?" he mused. "You're supposed to think I'm brave and strong… not a sobbing mess after dropping my daughter off at college."

"That's what makes you brave and strong," she smiled as she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "It takes a brave man to show his tears."

"I suppose," Danny shrugged. "Just don't tell Flack, alright?"

"Don't worry," she laid a hand on his arm as she linked her arm through his. "Your secret is safe with me."

After their conversation came to a pause, both used the silence to reflect. Life had its funny ways of getting away with you. It hadn't seemed like two minutes since they had moved to the outer edge of the city, giving them a bigger space to let their little family flourish. And flourish it did; a year after they moved house Lindsay had fallen pregnant with their second child. Then, a few years later, along came their third. In between the Ballet recitals, Baseball and Football games, music lessons and cheer practice, somehow Lindsay and Danny had fit in the mammoth task of actually raising their children along with their responsibilities at work. With Lucas at sixteen and Lily at nine life hadn't stopped when Lucy had left for college; but things hadn't been the same either. Their dynamic had changed completely and it had taken a long time to adjust to the changes her absence brought. Lily had missed her big sister desperately and although he ceased to admit it, so had their son. Lucy had this astounding level of patience for her little sister and Lucas… sometimes she was the only one that would get through to his hot-headed nature; a trait he'd unfortunately gained from Danny. When she had gone, Lucas had been uncharacteristically quiet and Lily had been overly tearful; sometimes she'd burst into tears out of the blue and although Lindsay picked up the broken pieces every time, Lily would still feel the absence of her 'Sissy' now and then.

And as for Danny, when the kids were at the practices, recitals and whatever the hell else they signed up for, and when Lindsay was at work, he'd go and sit in his daughter's untouched room and relive his daughter's life through her pictures and belongings. He missed her desperately and letting her go so far away had always been a regret of his. He knew that realistically North Carolina wasn't on the other end of the earth; but when he wanted nothing more than to joke around with his witty, beautiful and intelligent daughter, it seemed like the biggest distance imaginable.

It amazed Danny how close of a family they had; considering the initial foundations that it had. When they had found out about their daughter, they hadn't been on the best terms. There were worries, tears, rejected marriage proposals and more worries… but when the dust settled and everything became clear; Danny realised that the marriage proposal he'd offered Lindsay wasn't just the right thing to do – but far from it actually. He wanted Lindsay and everything that she had to give. He'd messed up along the way and those months where Lindsay wasn't in his life were some of his darkest times. He'd vowed to Lindsay that he was going to love, cherish and protect her as long as they lived, and that included Lucy, and then Lucas and Lily as they followed in her steps. While Danny hadn't given himself the best start in his life with Lindsay, he'd far surpassed the mistakes he'd made by stepping up to the plate and offering her what he hoped had been the marriage that she had wanted from him.

Nobody told him that he was going to find Lindsay. Nobody warned him of the damage she'd to do what he thought was a Love-proof heart. He hadn't thought marriage would ever be something he was interested in; he'd even said so to Mac. But here he was, twenty years later and he was about to watch his little girl graduate from College with his wife holding his hand.

"Mom, Dad!" They heard Lucy's voice through the excited chatter of the crowd gathering. "It's time,"

"You heard this?" Danny said, breaking their silence. "It's time…"

Squeezing Danny's hand tight, Lindsay stood and tugged him off their little wall that they'd found.

As he followed her steps, letting Lucy lead them through the crowd of excited family members, friends and graduating seniors, Danny realised that as he reflected on his life, he hadn't really appreciated the true value of his life with his family until they were memories. Those memories filled him with a surge of pride that left him slightly tearful as Lucy pointed to their assigned seats. Lucy hugged her Mom before turning to her Danny and taking a deep breath. He opened his arms before Lucy could open hers' and he tugged her into his embrace. "I'm so proud of you, Lucy." He whispered against her temple. "You did it, just like I knew you always would."

Biting her lip, Lucy smiled at him as she buried her head into his chest. "I love you, Daddy."

"Go knock them dead," he smiled as he let go of her and nudged her away. "Make sure you don't fall though, Mommy's recording it, so we'll have the footage forever… and God knows that Flack won't ever let you live it down." he added quickly before taking his seat and dodging her flying hand, aiming for his head.

"Behave!" Lindsay growled as he settled next to her. She took the last minute opportunity to blow Lucy as kiss as she went to find her own seat with her class.

Silence quickly ascended all around them and he watched with Lindsay as Lucy settled into her seat and stared directly down at the Dean as he prepared to begin Lucy's ceremony.

"In life we do things." The microphone with the Dean's voice boomed through the bleakers, instantly gaining Danny and Lindsay's attention. "Some we wish we had never done. Some we wish we could replay a million times in our heads. But they all make us who we are, and in the end, they shape every detail about us. If we were to reverse any of them we wouldn't be the person that we are. So, just live, make memories. But never second guess who you are, where you have been and most importantly, where it is you're going. If you take away anything from this moment, make sure that wherever you go in life, you go with all your heart. Well done Graduates, you have done yourselves proud."

Danny swallowed as he looked to Lindsay who had tears in her eyes. Although he was speaking to the class in front of him, the words struck a chord with both himself and Lindsay. His fingers squeezed Lindsay's as they shared a glance between one another. She smiled brightly before casting her eyes back to their daughter in the sea of black gowns. As they began to call names from Lucy's class, Danny prepared the camera, ready for Lucy to receive her degree certificate while Lindsay recorded the ceremony for Lily, Lucas and the rest of the team back home in New York.

Life, Danny realised, was about spending time together with the people that mattered. It was about taking the time to create lasting memories. It was about laughing, and laughing a lot. He had learnt over the years that it wasn't easy and it was stressful… but as he listened to Lucy's name being called and her accepting her degree certificate, he realised that Life was most definitely worth it.

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**And there we go; I hope you guys enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. For those who are wondering but can't quite work it out, the guest stars were Nathan, Haley and Lydia Scott from One Tree Hill. I'm shameful, I know, but whatever. I have to get my naley fixes from somewhere now that they've left me. Anyway, thank you all for reading. I would love to know what you all thought. :) **


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